fitclubmom’s BodyBlog

Tomorrow is a milestone day for me.  I will take my 1 month progress pictures.  Every day I look at amazing progress photos on this site.  And in a way, it can make it even more intimidating for me to take my photo’s.  I have these mini panic moments that I am actually going to look BIGGER in my progress photos.  Or, there may not be a change at all.  I know it’s silly, and trust me, I know that it takes longer than 1 month to change a couple of years of slacking but it doesn’t mean that in my little dream world I don’t dream about having a killer physique just by thinking it! lol

I have pictures of me showing what I looked like a couple of years ago, and several times I have debated putting them on here.  But there are a few reasons I haven’t… 1. I don’t want people to think that is what I currently look like,  2. I don’t want people to see how much I let myself go, and 3. What if I can’t look like that again?  So, I had a stern talk to myself (yes I talk to myself… it’s healthy, really it is!! lol) and ended up telling myself that I’m not going to look like those old pictures… I’m going to look BETTER!!! 

I had my body fat tested and I was down 1%.  So I have gone from 25% down to 24% in 1 month.  When I started getting back into fitness a few months ago I started at 29% body fat and dropped down to 25% by changing my eating habits.  I didn’t seriously start lifting weights until a month ago. I was honestly hoping for better, but I know from past experience that my body doesn’t really start dropping body fat until I have consistently worked out for 6 - 8 weeks.  Then the magic starts to happen.  So by next month, I should start dropping body fat and seeing some measurable progress.

I have been blogging for the last month now and confess that I love to go and read other people’s blogs on this site.  There are so many emotions I go through each day as I read through the different posts.  I have my favorite people who I tend to go to every day to see what they are doing each day (and in Kermane and ShanBL’s case, what kind of trouble they are creating with their funny ass blogs!).  But as I read through new blogs I am sometimes motivated, sometimes inspired, sometimes tearful, sometimes tickled pink, and yes, sometimes angry.  Mixed in with all of the wonderful motivational stories, humorous stories, and ‘accountability’ posts, there are angry responses, angry posts, and lots of people saying what other people should, and should not be doing.  And, if I’m being perfectly honest, I have actually said to my husband… "cat fight on the blogs!"  Does that make me a bad person?  I have to admit that sometimes it can be entertaining when it’s kept to a lively debate and not denigrated down to mudslinging. 

But here’s the thing.   We are all posting on a public blog.  A blog that is published for all the world to see.  If we blog in a public forum, well then the public is going to see it.  And just as it is our right to post the blog, it is the publics right to comment on what we write.  We are a world full of diversity… different people, means different temperaments and different personalities.  And let’s face it, not everyone is going to agree with everyone else.  But that’s what makes this world great!  Everyone can, and should have the right to express themselves.  With that said, I also believe that every single person should treat each other with the utmost courtesy and respect.  It’s okay to disagree with someones blog, and it’s even okay to comment on it.  But the comment should be courteous in the sense that we should only write what we ourselves would be okay with receiving.  It’s the old saying "Do unto others as you would have done to you" (or something to that effect).  I think one the best lessons we can learn is how to graciously accept constructive criticism; the operative word being ‘constructive’ (not destructive). 

I have been offered a lot of encouragement and advice on this site.  And I am truly amazed at how many generous men and women there are on this site.  The very vast majority of people are all willing to help, give advice, and motivate.  I have seen men and women giving away nutrition plans, workout plans, tips on getting ready for a competition, posing advice, etc.  The list is endless and it is being given away… FREE… yours for the asking!  How awesome is that?! 

So, even though there are some things I don’t agree with when reading blogs, I tell myself that everyone has the right to express their opinion.  And I move on to the blogs that motivate, inspire, or just plain make me laugh (in a good way).  Because, just as they have the choice to write what they want and post it, I have the choice to click the ‘close’ button and move on to another blog.

This morning the hubby and I saw my oldest daughter (she’s 13) off on her first extended school trip.  She will be going across several states and be gone for a week.  I thought I would handle this better, but I’m really not.  I’m sure she is totally fed up with me by now because I can’t seem to stop texting her to see how she’s doing .  I’m surprised she hasn’t shut her phone off!  After we dropped her off I was actually sick to my stomach with worry.  What if she gets hurt, or sick, or someone picks on her, or she gets separated from her group and lost????  Rationally I know that she is going to be fine and if she gets sick there will be qualified people to take care of her, and the chances of her getting lost are slim, and if she did get lost she would have her cell phone on her… but I really don’t want to be rational!! Really, I didn’t think I would be quite this bad! lol  This is my first real taste of having to let my children grow up and stand on their own and I think it will be an acquired taste for me, because right now I don’t like it!   But it is going to be a great experience for her!  And I might even let her go on another trip; after about 10 years have passed! 

Oh my goodness… have you ever noticed how hard it is getting back into a routine when you have had a few days of rest and relaxation?  Our spa getaway was FABULOUS!!  It is so fun to spend time with a loved one reconnecting with each other!  And the spa treatments were divine!  I felt like a limp noodle when the day was done.  On the downside, I was a little loose with the drinking and didn’t particularly watch what I ate and didn’t get a workout in during the time off.  But it was still worth it! lol

This morning I realized too late that I shouldn’t have taken two fat burners after being off of them for a few days!  I was SO jittery!  Uggghhh!  And I have to admit, it was hard to do my workout this morning .  I didn’t want to get up and I didn’t have a lot of energy; BUT I completed the entire workout!  Woohoo!! lol

And the best part is that my weight stayed the same!!!  How great is that?!  I was expecting to be up a few pounds after overindulging but I was only up 1/2 a pound which happens even when I don’t over-indulge!  So I was really happy about that!

So today started Phase 1 Week 2 of P90X (the hubby insists on counting the first week as a warm-up since we missed a couple of days , and I figured I would go by his count! lol).  So it was Chest and Back today… push-ups and pull-ups!  I used push-up stands and let me tell you it is MUCH harder to do push-ups using the stands!!!  I could do half of what I normally would be able to.  So I used the stands for the first half and then did regular push-ups for the second half.  It was a great workout and I was completely wiped out when it was over.

Tomorrow is Plyometrics… Yippeeeee!!!!!!

It’s nice to be back in the groove of things!

I know I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating… My hubby is AWESOME!  For Valentine’s day I asked him not to get me chocolates (too tempting!) but told him I wouldn’t turn down a mani/pedi .  So guess what he get’s me as a Valentine’s present?  He got us a two day getaway at a fabulous spa, with a full day of spa treatments… body scrub, massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure!!  AND we are having a romantic dinner at a fabulous restaurant too!  Isn’t he the best?!

BUT, here is the funny part… when he mentioned the getaway, the first thing we discussed (once I calmed down) was how we were going to do our P90X program! lol  I think we’re addicted!   We decided to do Kenpo last night instead of the Yoga and are switching the Yoga to Saturday so that we have more time since it is 90 minutes long.

OMG, this morning I was getting dressed for work and I happened to glance in the mirror when I was buttoning my pants and I saw AB MUSCLES!!!  That’s right folks… there were small ab muscles smiling back at me!!  How awesome is that?!   I of course had to call the hubby in to show them off, lol.  And he didn’t even ask for a magnifying glass to look at them. LMAO!  YAY, the workouts are working!

Motivational Quotes from Thomas Edison…

Discontent is the first necessity of progress.

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

Great ideas originate in the muscles.

Hell, there are no rules here - we’re trying to accomplish something.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.

If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.

Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress.

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.

The value of an idea lies in the using of it.

What you are will show in what you do.

Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.

Well, I learned a very important (PAINFUL) lesson during yesterday’s P90X program on how NOT to use the resistance band for pull ups!  Since the hubby and I are doing the program together, we take turns during the pull up sections.  Usually one of us uses the pull up bar and the other one loops one of the resistance bands over the pull up bar at one of the corners so that it doesn’t interfere with whomever is using the pull up bar.  This method works well for both of us and half way through we switch places so both of us have a chance to practice pull ups using the bar.  Well, yesterday I was the first to use the resistance band and hubby used the pull up bar.  So while I was waiting for the dvd to start I looped the resistance band over the pull up bar so that I was ready to go when we got to that section.  When the dvd starts you do a short warm up and then you do a set of push ups and then do pull ups.  I went and grabbed the resistance band and had it pulled a good distance away from the doorway to get a lot of tension in the band so that I had to work harder.  Hubby finished his pull up and let go of the pull up bar, which I found out too late was holding my band against the door, so when he let go, the band slipped out from the edge of the pull up bar and came back and hit me at a VERY high velocity across my chest and my left middle finger.  It knocked me on my ass and I couldn’t breathe.  My finger immediately swelled up to a grotesque size and turned black and blue (yucky!) and I had a nasty welt across my chest (it is a nice black and blue bruise today).  Thank goodness I was wearing a padded bra, or things would have been a lot worse!  OMG, it hurt!!!!  Hubby ran and got ice and I put it on my finger to get the swelling down a bit.  But, P90X has me in the zone, because I looked at hubby when he asked me if I was going to stop for the day and I told him "no way… I’m putting the ‘X’ in P90X today… let’s go finish the workout!"  And I did!  I "brought it" and finished that damn workout!  Woohoo! lmao!  Of course I am going to be MUCH more careful of where I loop the resistance bands from now on! lol

I am a couple of days behind on posting.  Saturday was P90X Phase 1 Day 5; Legs and Back.  Here’s another case of me being smug thinking that since I have been going to the gym and lifting weights for a few weeks that I would breeze through this dvd.  One of these days, I’m going to learn not to be smug about anything that has to do with P90X!  The ‘X’ in P90X stands for ‘Extreme’ and it is called extreme for a reason! Let me just say that one of the reasons that I was thinking I would breeze through this dvd was because I only have 8 pound weights right now and decided that I would take it easy, since my body is still so sore everywhere from this program, and just use my body weight for the exercises.  About 10 minutes into this dvd I was already asking "are we done yet… PLEASE tell me we’re almost done".  Since it is legs and back you are doing all kinds of squats and lunges (and trust me, he finds TONS of different variations of squats and lunges!) along with calf exercises AND you are doing all of the different variations of pull-ups!  The two exercises that really did me in were the "Sneaky Lunge" (OMG… these were really hard), and the "Single Leg Wall Squat" (I was praying for these to be over!). 

We actually started the program a day later than we wanted to, so instead of starting on a Monday, we didn’t start until Tuesday.  Our plans was to work out Tuesday through Sunday as week 1 and then start today as week 2 without taking the rest day.  So Sunday should have been Kenpo instead of a rest day.  Well, my legs and body were so shot that I couldn’t even lift my legs to walk up my stairs!  So I made an ‘executive’ decision to skip Kenpo for the first week and take my rest day.  Hubby got even with me though and told me this morning that since we missed the Kenpo (and he missed one other day due to him traveling) that we would say last week was a warm up and this week we would say was the start of week 1.  I’m still planning my evil revenge on him for that comment! lol 

So today was Phase 1 Week 2 (unless you are my evil hubby and are counting today as week 1).  I will blog about my mishap from this morning in another post.

All right… P90X Phase1 Day 3 (which was the day before yesterday) was arms and shoulders, which I actually really liked.

Yesterday was YOGA…. Now, anyone who has done the P90X knows that Tony is a little crazy (in a good way! lol).  He really has a knack for pushing you and motivating you to push yourself to the limit.  But I think he lost a screw when he came up with the yoga!  Now, I usually do 30 minutes of yoga several times a week.  I am the first to say that I am a beginner, but I have come a long way in the few months I have been doing yoga.  30 minutes is a decent amount of time to work up a sweat and get a good stretch.  I even have a couple of 55 minute yoga tapes that I will try to do on occasion (again, these are beginning yoga dvd’s).  And I am really wiped out afterwards.  But does Tony have a 30, or even 60, minute yoga dvd?  Hell no, that man somehow decides that 90 minutes is a good length of time.  N-I-N-E-T-Y MINUTES!!!  Again, let me repeat that… NINETY Minutes (read 1 and a half HOURS) of freakin’ yoga!  The first 45 minutes are all Vinyasa’s (so you are constantly moving from one yoga pose to another) and the second 45 minutes is more of a ‘holding’ yoga; this is where you contort your body in a position that is unattainable and makes you feel like Gumby and then you are expected to hold the pose for 30 seconds (and sometimes even longer).  And let me tell you, some of these yoga poses are INSANE… (like backbends with one foot in the air, OUCH). 

I lasted for 25 minutes of the first section and my muscles were quivering so hard that I couldn’t have walked, even if I had wanted to.  And trust me, I didn’t want to even blink… blinking took too much effort!  I made a valiant effort to do some of the holding poses and did pretty good at some of them.   But I ended up on my head during the ‘Crane’  (a pre-handstand)… even though Tony said NOT to end up on your head! lmao  No sooner had he said it, when I felt myself going over and landing on my head.  And finally, after an eternity the dvd was over.  If I had enough energy I would have cheered, but I was too busy trying to remember how to crawl so that I could go to bed!  

Of course I will continue to do the Yoga, and will try not to bore you each week with my escapades, and by the end of 90 days, I WILL be able to complete all 90 minutes of the yoga dvd!

Today will be Legs and Back.  Wooohooo lol.